Gerda gazed thoughtfully across the stretches of bog-land to the forest
on the horizon. "Yes," she said at last; "I will go without the furs
Mother promised to buy for me next winter."

Lieutenant Ekman knew well that Gerda had set her heart on the furs, and
that it would be a real sacrifice for her to give them up; but if she
were willing to do so cheerfully, it meant that she was in earnest about
helping her new friend.

"Yes," he said, after a moment; "if you will give up the furs, we will
see what can be done. On the way home we will stop at the lighthouse and
ask Hans Klasson to lend Karen to us for a little while."

Gerda clapped her hands. "Oh, a promise! A promise!" she cried joyously.
"What a good souvenir of Polcirkel!" and she ran to tell Birger the news.




CHAPTER VI

THE MIDNIGHT SUN


"What time is it, Father?" asked Gerda, as they reached the top of Mount
Dundret, and Lieutenant Ekman took the key out of his pocket to open the
door of the Tourists' Hut.

"It is half past eleven," replied her father, looking at his watch.